Here's an Irish Polka that we call Fish and Taters , learned of a bloke who learnt it in the 1960s from the Rakes in London . I usually play it as the third tune in a set with Tralee Gaol and Maggie in the Wood

Two Reels. Finneys is a working title as the tune was taught to Chris Dove by Finney, and neither know whether it has a 'real' name. (Let us know if you think it has). It came as 24 bars, so doubling on the A pulled it up to 32, and while repetitive seems to jog along nicely. Ships are Sailing is a standard from the 'to do' pile and seems to fit.

Two Reels. Finneys is a working title as the tune was taught to Chris Dove by Finney, and neither know whether it has a 'real' name. (Let us know if you think it has). It came as 24 bars, so doubling on the A pulled it up to 32, and while repetitive seems to jog along nicely. Ships are Sailing is a standard from the 'to do' pile and seems to fit.

All the best from Suffolk

Bill

Good stuff Bill. And proof that Irish tunes don't need a B/C or similar to sound really good.

Hi Pikey, Nice tunes! However, they're not from Clare, they're from Jackie's home area of north Cork, and the second two are sometimes referred to after a town in the area - as the Newmarket Polkas - but then so are some other tunes! The first one I think sometimes goes under the name of Sullivan's if you haven't got anything else with that name. I admire you for having a go at the last one, I've tried it on a couple of different boxes but always seem to run out of air, specially if I put the basses in. I like to play the final A on the G row pull to get the A bass - well whatever the equivalent is on an Bb/Eb. I play the first two tunes and have the middle one in what I think is a really nice set, but I've never yet braved the challenge of the technology needed to put a film up on here. I might get round to it before the month is out though!

Feel I ought to contribute something to this theme at least but have no camera to do filming at present, so forgive me for adding this - it's an old tutorial video but I play through the tune 3 times at the start. The Ballintore Fancy (John Fleming's Jig).

Here's a short recording of Miss McLeod's Reel I did when a friend introduced me to the garageband software. Still haven't worked out how to use the software, but I'll try to record some Irish tunes on video later on.

I don't have a huge number of Irish tunes in my repertoire, but this is one I learnt many years ago from Neil Brookes. Neil learnt it from the Irish players that frequented the Exiles of Erin pub in the early 1970's. The pub is no longer there I'm afraid. The Kilfenora jig:

Good tunes everyone. I liked Ian's Miss McLeod - very Connemara treatment. Molly St George is a beautiful and wonderfully meandering sort of air. And the Kilfenora Jig is a classic that seems to have fallen out of fashion and should be heard more often. Keep them coming...

StiamhAs a resident expert here, could you recommend a couple of tunes to learn? I've looked at quite a few, but so many have contradictory provenance - some claim to be Irish but others say they're Scottish... etc. I'd be keen to be pointed in a securely Irish direction.

What do you want to tackle? A jig, a reel, a hornpipe, a march, a polka, a slide, a "piece"? What keys do you like to play in? Quart-box players might be better placed to make suggestions, but if you can narrow it down a bit I'll have a go.

StiamhAs a resident expert here, could you recommend a couple of tunes to learn? I've looked at quite a few, but so many have contradictory provenance - some claim to be Irish but others say they're Scottish... etc. I'd be keen to be pointed in a securely Irish direction.

Many tunes have been absorbed into the Irish tradition from other countries, not just from the UK, but they can still be played as Irish music. Don't mix 'tunes' up with 'music', it is more to do with the style of how the tunes are produced/ /played.

What do you want to tackle? A jig, a reel, a hornpipe, a march, a polka, a slide, a "piece"? What keys do you like to play in? Quart-box players might be better placed to make suggestions, but if you can narrow it down a bit I'll have a go.

Let's go with a reel or slip jig. Usual keys for a DG box. Ideally something that might come up at a session.